Attachment for secondary clocks



j. W. BRYCE.

SELF WINDING ATTACHMENT FOR SECONDARY CLOCKS.

APPLICATION man nov. 11, 1919.

1,367,,"f' 34:u Patented Feb. 8, 1921.

8 SHEETS-SHEET I- INVENTOR ATTOR EY J. W. BRYCE.

SELF WINDING ATTACHMENT FOR SECONDARY CLOCKS.

APPLICATION FILED ov. 17, 1919.

1,367,534. Patented Feb. 8, 1921.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

J. W. BRYCE.

SELF WINDING ATTACHMENT FOR SECONDARY CLOCKS.

Patelitd Feb.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 17. I919.

.'iliiliiliiilliiiIi/Iliililllliii" "7 T u 1 8, 1921. 8 $HEETSSHEEI 3.

5. W. BRYCE SELF WINDKNG ATTAQHMENT FOR SECONDARY CLOCKS. APPLICATION HLED NOV.t7,1919.

1,367,534 Patented Feb. 8,1921.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 4- INVENTOR M w.

ATTORN EYS J, W. BRYCE.

SELF WINDING ATTACHMENT FOR SECONDARY CLOCKS.

- APPLICATSON FILED NOV-17, 1919. 1,367,534. Patented Feb. 8,1921.

' a SHEETSSHEET 5.

J. W A'EQE SELF WHdDING ATTACHMENT FOB SECONDARY CLOCKS.

APPLlCATlON HLED NOV-1?, m9.

Patented Feb.8,19231n 8 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

A TTORNE Y8 SELF WINDING ATTACHMENT FOR SECONDARY CLOCKS,

O 1 2. 9 IT 9 H OO n f 8 m 56 DA 1.. Wn BRYCE.

SELF WINDING ATTACHMEIITTOR SECONDARY CLOCKS. v I APPLICATION. FILED NOV- 17, 1919. I

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- ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES W. BRYCE, 01F BINGHAMTON, NE W YORK, ASSIGNOB, T OTHE INTERNATIONAL TIME RECORDING COMPANY OF NEW YORK; A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

SELF-WINDING- ATTACHMENT FOR SECONDARY CLOCKS.

earner.

Application filed November 17, 1919.

T (4Z6, who-met may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES W. Enron, a

, citizen of the United States, residing at Binghamton, in the county of Broome and State of New York, have invmted certain new and useful Improvements in SelfWind- .ing Attachments for Secondary Clocks, of

which the following is a full, clear, and exact description. i

In numerous patents heretofore granted to me I have shown and described a method and apparatus for synchronizing clocks now well known on the market as the C. T. It. or Bryce rate, and these means are brought into the main or hne clrcuit at definlte intervals with reference to the time as indicated by the secondary, so that if the said clock be too slow the accelerating means are rendered operative until the clock has caught up to the master clock, or if too fast it'is stopped or retarded until the master clock has caught up to it.

In this system as in. others of the kind, experiments basedon practical conditions of operation and use, have led to the develop ment and adoption of a commercial form of apparatus, which,'-while operating on the same principles, exhibits certain novel but specific I structural features which have proved to be best adapted for accomplishing the objects of the invention, and this application is based upon a self winding attachment for such final or finished form of clock mechanism, and'it resides in the features of construction which will be hereinafter set forth and described.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate this improved clock mechanism:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the secondary clock complete.

Fig. '2 is a similar view of the same mechanism with the front plate and parts connected therewith removed.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the same mechanism, looking from the right in, Figs. 1

and 2- Specification of Letters Patent.

. Patented Feb. 8, 1921.

Serial No. 338,467.

Fig. l is a similar view but looking in the opposite direction.

Fig. 5 is a part vertical section of the same mechanism showing mainly the clock movement.

Figs. 6 and '7 are detail views of the portion of the clock and winding train.

Figs. Sand 9 are detail views of a portion of the winding mechanism.

Fig. 10 is a diagram of the complete. system.

So far as the master clock is concerned, the system herein described differs in no es sential respects from those heretofore in use. For example, Fig. 10 shows in upper portion of the sheet a typical form of this device, in which 1 and 2 represent the mains of a circuit from any suitable source of supply. On the minute arbor 3 of the master clock is a contact 4:, and coiiperating with this contact is a contact 5 oscillated by the balance shaft 6, so that a contact is established once every minute.

On the hour shaft 7 is a disk 8 having two short conducting segments 9 and 10 in its periphery, upon which bear a pair of insulated brushes 11. A local battery or other source of current 12 is, by the means described, closed momentarily at fifteen minute intervals during each hour and thereby energizes an electro-magnet 13 which, operating through a suitable ratchet mechanism, moves a ratchet wheel 14: step by step. One of a pair of contacts bears upon the teeth of this ratchet and when on' a high point or tooth closes the main circuit and when on a lowpoint breaks thev circuit. The parts are so related that curent is thus sent to line for exactly fifteen minutes every hour.

In each secondary clock, oneof which is shown diagrammatically in the lower part of the sheet, a cam disk 16 is mounted on thehour shaft, and upon its periphery bears the center member ofthree contacts 17. For fifteen minutes during each hour, secondarytime, the middle contact rests upon the high part of the cam 16, and the electromagnet 22 which controls the ratchet wheel 31 is brought into a branch of the main circuit. If the secondary is exactly on time then the middle contact will drop oil from the high point of the cam at exactly fifteen minutes of the hour, true time, or at the instant when the master clock begins to send its fifteen minute impulse, and hence magnet 22 will receive no current, but if the clock be slow, then the contact will reach the high point before i fteen minutes of the hour and will not drop off until after the master clock impulse has begun to flow; consequently, the clock will be speeded up until the clock has reached the fifteen minute position.

When the middle contact drops off the high point it travels for fifteen minutes on a neutral part of the cam 21. If, therefore, the clock be fast it will drop oil this neutral part before the hour, when it falls on t 0 low part 24 and brings the middle and lo contacts together whereby the main current will be directed through magnet 18 which controls a brake 19 working on the balance Wheel 20, and the clock therefore stops until the master clock catches up with it. After another short interval the middle contact rises onto another neutral portion of the cam disk 23.

The construction of the secondary similar to those now in use, and requires no detailed explanation herein. In all such clocks, however, it is desirable that some means for automatically winding them should be provided which will in any way interfere with the running of the trains. Such means I have provided and illustrated the same, chiefly in Figs. 6 and 7. In these figures 35 gear wheel driven by the spring in barrel 36. WVith this wheel engages a smaller gear 37 loose on a shaft 38 and which gears with and drives a pinion 39 in a box 40 fixed to shaft 38.

Pinion 39 meshes with a second pinion ill. on the other side of the box 40 and this latter pinion engages a gear wheel .22 in turn, meshes with a gear wheel gear with the winding gear wheel 59.

From this arrangement it results that as the clock spring unwinds the gear wn-ecl is rotated by the main gear 35. This rotation imparts rotation to the pinion wl causes the box 40 to rm olve, traveling around the periphery of gear wheel 3'? and rotating the shaft 38. On this shaft, as shown in Fig. l, is a collar 44 which rotates with the shaft. Said collar has a projection 45 which is adapted to ente, as it rotates, teeth or notches in a plate 46 pivot ally mounted at the center 47, and constituting with the projecting 45 a geneva move ment.

As the shaft 38 rotates to the left the projection 45 engages with a notch in plate 46 and shifts said plate about its pivotal point one step. The main plate carries a lever 49, pivoted at 50, and when the plate 46 is.

link 51 with an ordinary spring thrown switch in a box 52 and any appreciable movement of the lever 49 throws such switch by which means the said lever is shifted to its full extent of movement.

The shaft 38 is rotated by the clock move ment once every twentyfour or re hours, and thereby caused to throw the switch and to close the circuit to a winding motor the shaft of which 54 carries a worm 55, gearing with a wheel 56 on a vertical shaft 57, which by suitable gearing imparts rotation to a bevel wheel 58, geared with and adapted to wind up the springs in barrel 36.

lVhen the springs are thus wound up the arm 40, fixed to the shaft 38, see Fig. 6, is turned backward with said shaft until the projection 45 on collar 44 engages a notch in the plate 46 and throws the latter back one step, thus operating the switch to break the motor circuit. This winding of the clock does not prevent the gear 37, see F ig. 8, from turning under the influence of the spring gear wheel 35, so that the clock runs under the power of the main spring just the same when winding as under normal conditions, while it is automatically wound up once every twenty-four hours.

In other respects than those noted, the construction of the clock mechanism is of the usual and known character. As constructed and described, this mechanism has been found well adapted to its intended purpose, and represents the results of long conducted tests and experiments.

What I claim is 1. The combination with the driving train of a secondary clock of a gear wheel loose on a shaft mounted in fixed bearings, a T n driven by said wheel, and carried by support fixed to said shaft, a second pinion carried by sa d support and geared to the first named pinion and in mesh through a gear wheel fixed to said shaft with a winding gear, a winding motor and aswitch controlled by the rotation of said shaft to make and break the circuit of the winding motor to periodically wind up the clock spring.

2. The combination with a spring driven gear wheel of a wheel in mesh therewith and loose on a shaft in fixed bearings, boxed gears fixed to said shaft and adapted to be rotated by their engagement therewith aboutsaid loose gear, and geared to awinding gear, a winding motor and means iarried by the said shaft to open and close tne circuit of the winding motor by its rotation. and to thereby wind up the clock periodically without interfering with its rrmning.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature.

JAMES W. BRYCE. 

